McCourts stir Dodgers fans’ interest

The Los Angeles Dodgers are pretty much out of the pennant race in the National League West, and their wild-card hopes don't look good, either. But there is something to maintain the interest of their fans: the McCourt divorce battle.

Frank and Jamie McCourt, who own the team, are in the midst of a messy and public divorce, proceeding with high-powered attorneys on both sides who are swinging for the fences on behalf of their clients. A website called "Dodgerdivorce.com" is tracking the daily proceedings, providing details and analysis and allowing fans to vent their frustration as they watch their team slip into the abyss in the final month of the season.

The trial, which is in its fourth day, had Frank McCourt testifying Wednesday. At stake is who will take control of the Dodgers. Jamie McCourt contends she's entitled to the team as part of any settlement, while Frank disagrees.

They have other issues, such as entitlement to homes, cars, money -- the usual stuff that couples deal with when they split. But the daily fireworks are there for Dodgers fans to follow in cyberspace. It's probably better than watching Jonathan Broxton walk guys in the ninth inning to blow another save.

■ NOT SO WISE -- For many longtime journalists, the Twitter age has been a hard concept to grasp. Especially when it comes to trying to determine which tweets are accurate and which aren't.

Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise mocked the Twitter world by putting out a tweet Monday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had reduced Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's suspension from six games to five. The action cost Wise a month suspension from his paper.

Wise's point was to show that people would run with the tweet without first checking the validity of the information. Sure enough, news organizations across the country took Wise at his word and were reporting the reduction in Big Ben's suspension.

Now Wise now finds himself sidelined alongside Roethlisberger.

■ WRITER SUED -- No, it hasn't been a good week for sports journalists.

Penguin Books is suing Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski after he failed to deliver a manuscript for a book on the late Jim Valvano.

The New York Post reported that Penguin filed a suit in federal court in Manhattan seeking to recoup a $140,000 advance from Wojnarowski. The suit maintains Wojnarowski originally promised a 130,000-word book on Valvano by August 2007. When he didn't meet that deadline, the Post reported, the initial advance of $400,000 was reduced to $325,000.

According to the Post, Penguin gave Wojnarowski a final deadline of June 1. When that deadline came and went without a manuscript, Penguin canceled the contract and demanded a repayment of $140,000. Penguin maintained Wojnarowski ignored the cancellation letter as well as a July letter offering terms for repayment of the $140,000.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL